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Of all the issues Congress confronts, the most solvable and the one that would do the most to help our nation grow and prosper — with the possible exception of energy — is immigration reform.

We are a nation that has always drawn much of its strength from having people come here and add to the energy and prosperity of the country. The immigrants who have chosen to make the difficult and challenging choice to move to America have often been some of the most productive citizens of the countries they left behind.

They are, by nature, driven people who were willing to take the risk of pulling up roots and moving. As a result, the United States has, for the most part, gotten the benefit of talented and committed citizens who have raised our culture and our standard of living.

Our national policy should continue to encourage immigration. This is why we need an immigration policy that deals with the reality of our times and continues to reinvigorate our nation by bringing in new people.

Yet for reasons purely political and counterproductive, a reasonable immigration policy has been sidetracked by the desire of both Democratic and Republican officeholders and candidates to score points with groups that have no interest in effective policy but simply have single-issue concerns that have turned into non-debatable hyperbole.

It is not rocket science to know how to set up an effective immigration policy. The parameters are clear. The policy needs to encourage legal immigration that helps our nation prosper.

There are five steps to doing it:

• First, we need to secure the borders. Although progress has been made, the border with Mexico where most illegal immigrants cross is still not secure. It is inexcusable that the resources and technology needed to stop the flow are not in place. All it takes is funding and commitment.

• Second, there needs to be an effective and friendly guest-worker program. This allows people who need work to come here where there are jobs not being done by Americans.

• Third, once we have an effective guest-worker program, there needs to be a dramatic increase in surveillance and prosecution of businesses that employ people who are not here legally. There should be a significant price to pay for an employer that exploits people and encourages people to enter the country illegally.

• Fourth, there needs to be a new regime for attracting talented people to come here and stay here. We should say to the best and the brightest around the world that if they wish to come to America, we are interested in having them come. If they are already studying here, we are interested in having them stay. Instead, we say the opposite.

As Bill Gates says, every time he hires a talented individual from another country to work here it benefits America two ways. First, the individual usually ends up being a center around whom jobs are created, and second, it keeps him or her from being an overseas competitor.

• Fifth, we need to deal in a humane and reasonable way with the millions of people who are already here illegally. If they have acted inappropriately while here, then we should send them back to their native lands, but obviously that would be a small number of people.

We cannot deport millions of people, most of whom are hardworking and living quiet, orderly lives. We also cannot allow them, as a result of their illegal entry, to become citizens. This would violate the basic premise of following the rule of law that is a key standard of citizenship.

But there is a logical, fair and reasonable resolution to this conundrum. It is to allow these people, after they have agreed to some reasonable action, either through community service or fines, to compensate for their violation of the law when they entered the country to obtain a “blue card.” This blue card would give them legal status but not citizenship.

(I would add that for those that are undocumented under the age of 18 or are now older but came when they were under the age of 18 should not be penalized. -JMG)

It is time to push aside those in the political arena who wish to use immigration primarily as an election tool and do not seek or tolerate rational action. It is time to move forward with a policy that will make us more competitive, add to our economy and our culture and continue to lift our nation and give us the unique strength that comes from being a country built on the character of the people who immigrate here.

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In this election year, the candidates are treating the Univisions and Telemundos of the world the same as they do many English-language networks.

The Hispanic news media clearly are not only playing a significant role in coverage of the primaries, they also have the respect of all the major candidates. The GOP hopefuls seem to be treating Hispanic media on par with their English-language networks, if not going out of their way to be sure they make their points to Hispanic voters.

Hudson says this is the first time in national political elections that CNN en Espanol has been cobranded with CNN and shared in coverage. “It’s the first time that the network has been perceived to be a major asset to English-language CNN,” she says. “We launched our primary coverage last July. Since then we have been doing tagteam coverage with CNN. We cosponsor the debates with CNN and we carry all of them live, translating them into Spanish. And our political analyst, Marisa Cardona, also appears on CNN.”Telemundo’s Falcon says her network’s partnership with NBC News “is extremely important to us, a very valuable asset.” She adds that Telemundo plans to cover every Republican caucus and primary going forward, offering coverage across all of its platforms. She says while extra emphasis will be on covering states with large Hispanic populations, all primaries will be covered. Falcon also says Telemundo will expand Enfoque from a half-hour to an hour in the near future.

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A study by the Pew Hispanic Center shows that there was a 24% increase in Hispanic college enrollment between 2009 and 2010. This exceeds the population increase among the Hispanic 18-24 demographic (7%) over the same period, which indicates a trend in strides in educational awareness among the Hispanic community.

Hispanic high school completion reached a record 73% in 2010, up 3% from the year prior. Additionally, strides to move these kids from high school to college have paid off: 44% of those Hispanic students completing high school are going on to college, up from 39% in 2009.

What This Means for Marketers

With college graduates on average earning 1.5 times more than those with only a high school degree, these trends put the Hispanic youth catching up with their non Hispanic counterparts not only in terms of educational attainment but also in terms of income level. US Hispanic consumer spending is on track to reach $1.4 trillion by 2014, and with continuing increases in income levels among these young Latinos, real levels could outpace these projections. Marketers should be looking to include Hispanic marketing strategies into their annual plans in order to capture this growing population’s loyalty and purchases.

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Members of the Chicago-area Hispanic community are sending a loud and clear message to Bank of America officials: stop the unjust attacks on Illinois’ third largest minority-owned business that have placed more than 1,400 jobs in jeopardy.

Bank of America has taken extreme and unprecedented measures to intimidate and put the Hillside- and Downers Grove- based direct mail and financial marketing company out of business, which would result in 1,400 lost jobs, nearly 1,000 of which are held by Hispanics.

VMark workers as well as elected and business officials and community activists are asking BOA to serve the very taxpayers who helped bail out the banking giant by working with the company to resolve the matter and ensure the employment of thousands of local residents and the economic health of the community.

“This is simply unacceptable,” said State Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford (4th District), who represents the district where the Hillside facility is located. “I’m not going to stand by and watch Bank of America victimize minority communities. These hard-working employees and their families are being punished for failed corporate boardroom policies.”

Some of VMark’s owners, who are the minority shareholders in the company, defaulted years ago on $39 million in loan guarantees unrelated to the company. But while the owners have sought to fulfill all of their obligations during the past year, BOA has curiously refused their offers and is now leveraging that debt to put the company out of business. Meanwhile, VMark is currently pursuing other legal avenues to remain in business and retain jobs.

“We’re here to show Bank of America that we’re not going to let them ruin a successful business that serves as a lifeline to thousands of local Chicago and suburban families,” said State Sen. Martin Sandoval (12th District), whose district is home to many VMark employees. “We cannot let the big corporate banks turn their backs on a successful company and the Hispanic community when working families are struggling to make ends meet.”

VMark supporters noted that the issue comes on the heels of the U.S. Justice Department‘s recent order that Bank of America pay $335 million to settle claims that its subsidiary Countrywide discriminated against minority borrowers. It was charged with hiking interest rates and fees for more than 200,000 African-American and Hispanic borrowers who qualified for lower rates. The fees and interest rates were higher than those of non-Hispanic white borrowers.

Cook County Commissioner Jeff Tobolski, whose 16th District includes VMark’s Hillside facility, was hopeful the two sides could work something out to retain the jobs.

“These workers serve on the front lines and help drive growth of the company and the region,” Tobolski said. “Through no fault of their own, they stand to lose their jobs and benefits, which impact families and the overall economic health of Cook County. We need to do all we can to create a business friendly environment in the county to not only retain existing jobs but attract new ones and spur economic growth.”

VMark has been a valued member of the corporate and Hispanic community since 1974, when it started as a magazine subscription service. Since that time, VMark has expanded to include eight separate companies that service a diverse client base.

“VMark is an anchor of the Hispanic community and a true American success story, growing and thriving as a small business that contributes to the overall financial health of the Chicago area,” said Chicago Ald. George A. Cardenas (12th Ward). “Bank of America needs to resolve this matter so VMark can continue to operate and families can keep their jobs and survive.”

Nilda Esparza, Executive Director of the Little Village Chamber of Commerce, noted that VMark plays a vital role in the Hispanic community.

“Minority owned-businesses are among the fastest growing segment of new business and job creation among small businesses,” Esparza said. “Companies like VMark create jobs and opportunities in the Latino Community. As a fellow minority group, we stand with VMark and their employees in the hopes they are able to reach an amicable resolution that allows them to continue to prosper and generate jobs in Illinois.”

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The initial affiliate list includes flagship KWHY (channel 22) in Los Angeles, the top Latino market in the U.S., which owned by the Meruelo Group and WJAN (channel 41) in Miami (Hispanic DMA No. 3) owned by America CV Group.

“Only six weeks have passed since we announced MundoFox, and we have exceeded our expectations by securing affiliate partnerships in many of the key U.S. Hispanic markets,” said Hernan Lopez, president and CEO of Fox International Channels, in a statement. “In the last 20 years, no U.S. broadcast network has secured such a large footprint so quickly without assistance from O&O stations. Interest in MundoFox has been tremendous, and we now expect to exceed our original goal of securing distribution in 75% of U.S. Hispanic households by launch.”

Distribution agreements in the remaining top 50 Hispanic markets across the country are still being negotiated.
“The positive response and increasing interest by affiliates is a true testament to the goal of MundoFox, which is to fill the gap in Latino entertainment in the U.S. and bring quality content and differentiation from the options currently available to Spanish-speaking viewers,” noted RCN CEO Gabriel Reyes. “We plan on keeping the momentum going in the upcoming months and are confident we’ll be widely distributed prior to our fall launch.”

The joint venture aspires to bring the sensibilities of the Fox broadcast network to Latino audiences, featuring entertainment, sports and news, among other programming formats.
MundoFox plans to integrate programming from a variety of sources into its lineup. Colombian broadcaster RCN Television S.A., the creative force behind the original Betty La Fea (Ugly Betty) and El Capo, will be contributing.

For its part, Fox International Channels, which has produced weekly dramas combining U.S.-style, character-driven story-telling, plus factual and lifestyle programming. Fox Deportes will also kick in with its exclusive U.S. Spanish-language rights to the UFC, as well as various soccer tournaments
The service also plans to tap product from Shine Group, Elisabeth Murdoch’s U.K. production company that owns Reveille in the U.S. and which News Corp. purchased last February.

The network also plans to license and commission fare from third-party suppliers.

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